News Broadcasting
Zee Sports to telecast AFC U-20 championship live
MUMBAI: Zee Sports, the television partner to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), will produce and telecast the AFC Youth Championship from Kolkata and Bangalore starting 29 October to 12 November 2006.
In Kolkatta the matches will played at the Salt Lake Stadium and in Bangalore the matches will be held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Zee Sports is also the host broadcaster for the entire Asian region for the event and the feed will be going out to 25 Asian countries.
The AFC U-20 Championship is held every two years and is open to players under the age of 19. According to an official statement, the future stars of Asian football will be playing in this tournament and most of them will in all likelihood represent their countries in the 2010 Fifa World Cup. This tournament also acts as a qualifying tournament for the Fifa U-20 World Cup.
The top four sides in the AFC Youth Championship will advance to the Fifa U-20 World Cup to be played in Canada from 30 June 2007 to 22 July 2007.
The Korea Republic claimed the AFC Youth Championship crown in 2004 with a 2-0 win over China in Kuala Lumpur.
Countries competing in this edition of championship are Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, China, UAE, Thailand, Australia, Japan, North Korea, Iran, Tajikistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Vietnam and hosts India.
Telecast Schedule of the AFC Youth Championship
Match
Date
Time
Korea Republic vs. Jordan 29 Oct 15:30 onwards
India vs. Kyrgyzthan 29 Oct 18:30 onwards
China PR vs. Australia 30 Oct 15:30 onwards
Thailand vs. UAE 30 Oct 18:30 onwards
Jordan vs. India 31 Oct 15:30 onwards
Kyrgyzthan vs. Korea Rep 31 Oct 18:30 onwards
Saudi Arabia vs Malaysia 1 Nov 15:30 onwards
UAE vs China PR 1 Nov 18:30 onwards
Korea Republic vs India 2 Nov 14:30 onwards
China PR vs Thailand 3 Nov 14:30 onwards
Quarter Finals 6 Nov 15:30 onwards
Quarter Finals 6 Nov 18:30 onwards
Semi Finals 9 Nov 15:30 onwards
Semi Finals 9 Nov 17:00 onwards
Third Place Play Off 12 Nov 15:30 onwards
Finals 12 Nov 17:00 onwards
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
